Working in his parents' Russian restaurant never really held much interest for mild-mannered New Yorker Yuri Orlov (Nick Cage) so what does he do instead?
Get a part-time job, put himself through college and work in the city perhaps? Err…not quite.
He follows every high school graduate's dream and becomes an illegal arms supplier to eight of the world’s top ten war zones.
When not flogging weapons to rapists, drug dealers and child killers Yuri proves he is an all round good egg by snorting cocaine and cheating on his wife with Aids-ridden African prostitutes.
Unfortunately for him though, geeky Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke) doesn’t share Yuri’s insatiable lust for carnage and debauchery and vows to put a stop to his dodgy dealings.
They say:
Total Film: "LOW shows the good side of the bad guys. And, in blurring the legality and illegality of gun running too, the film doesn't offer easy answers - refreshingly forcing viewers to, (gasp!) form their own opinions."
Guardian: "Cage carries the movie. That great equine face persuasively suggests a man who every day hands over another little piece of his soul to Beelzebub."
Empire: "It would like to be Traffic with guns, but comes out more like Blow with bullets. Impressive performances, fascinating info bytes and pertinent editorial, but in the end, it feels too much like an illustrated lecture."
We say:
LOW's examination of America's involvement in the international arms trade is an interesting companion piece to other recent releases, Syriana and The Constant Gardener, which looked at the oil and drug trades respectively.
What sets director Andrew "Truman Show" Niccol's offering apart though is his explosive script which uses humour as its main weapon against George "Dubbya" and his cronies.
Cage gives an outstanding central performance that is backed up by an impressive supporting cast including the stunning Bridget Moynahan and an admirably sinister turn from English thesp Ian Holm.
Special praise should be given to Cage's wig fitter though who has succeeded in producing the most ridiculous toupee of his distinguished career.
CAST
Nicholas Cage, Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke
Bridget Moynahan, Ian Holm, Eamonn Walker
DIRECTOR
Andrew Niccol
TIME
122 mins
POSTED...
Wed 8 Mar 2006 at 2:06pm
